Economic Beat

A True Economic Awakening

Despite worries about labor-force participation, the latest data point to a strengthening U.S. recovery.

Last week's deluge of data was highlighted by an irony that might have been a first in the annals of economic news. On the same day that we learned that first-quarter growth in real gross domestic product had slowed to an annual rate of 0.1%—about zero—the Federal Open Market Committee blithely declared that "growth in economic activity has picked up recently."

The FOMC also put its money where its mouth was, announcing its intention to taper its monthly bond purchases by another $10 billion, to $45 billion,...